I've been asked to design a camellia garden in a cold (by NZ standards) place, -10 °C (14F) is the coldest, so about Zone 6a and sloping south - which does not face the sun here! Altitude 350m.
I will get reasonable control over wind and more or less unlimited ability with drainage and soil changes. Soil is currently a type of sub-alpine podzol with a lot of rocks but I will be changing that.
Does anyone here grow Camellias in cold places? What have you done that's got them through cold winters? HAve you experimented and found things that worked? At this point I'm looking at sasanquas only as site is brrr! cold, although it seems like there are exceptions for other origin Camellia.
Camellia oleifera is not in production in NZ, but it seems the japonicas have advanced a lot in the last few years.